THE
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION
OF THE
ERYTHRÆAN SEA;
BEING A TRANSLATION
OF THE
PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI,
BY AN ANONYMOUS WRITER,
AND OF
ARRIAN’S ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE OF NEARKHOS,
FROM THE MOUTH OF THE INDUS TO THE HEAD OF THE
PERSIAN GULF.
WITH INTRODUCTIONS, COMMENTARY, NOTES,
AND INDEX.
BY
J. W. MCCRINDLE, M.A. EDIN.,
PRINCIPAL OF THE GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, PATNA;
MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;
FELLOW OF THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY.
(_Reprinted, with additions, from the Indian Antiquary._)
Calcutta:
THACKER, SPINK & Co.
Bombay:
ED. SOC. PRESS.
London:
TRÜBNER & Co.
1879.
BOMBAY:
PRINTED AT THE EDUCATION SOCIETY’S PRESS, BYCULLA.
PREFACE.
In the Preface to my former work, “Ancient India as described by
Megasthenês and Arrian,” I informed the reader that it was my intention
to publish from time to time translations of the Greek and Latin works
which relate to ancient India, until the series should be exhausted,
and the present volume is the second instalment towards the fulfilment
of that undertaking. It contains a translation of the _Periplûs_
(_i. e. Circumnavigation_) _of the Erythræan Sea_, together with a
translation of the second part of the _Indika_ of Arrian describing
the celebrated voyage made by Nearkhos from the mouth of the Indus
to the head of the Persian Gulf. Arrian’s narrative, copied from the
Journal of the voyage written by Nearkhos himself, forms an admirable
supplement to the Periplûs, as it contains a minute description of a
part of the Erythræan Coast which is merely glanced at by the author of
that work. The translations have been prepared from the most approved
texts. The notes, in a few instances only, bear upon points of textual
criticism, their main object being to present in a concise form for
popular reading the most recent results of learned enquiry directed
to verify, correct, or otherwise illustrate the contents of the
narratives.
The warm and unanimous approbation bestowed upon the first volume of
this series, both by the Press in this country and at home, has given
me great encouragement to proceed with the undertaking, and a third
volume is now in preparation, to contain the _Indika_ of Ktêsias and
the account of India given by Strabo in the 15th Book of his Geography.
_Patna College, June 1879._
ANONYMI [ARRIANI UT FERTUR]
PERIPLUS MARIS ERYTHRÆI.
TRANSLATED FROM THE TEXT
As given in the _Geographi Græci Minores_, edited by
C. Muller: Paris, 1855.
WITH INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY.
PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHRÆAN SEA.
INTRODUCTION.[1]
The _Periplûs of the Erythræan Sea_ is the title prefixed to a work
which contains the best account of the commerce carried on from the Red
Sea and the coast of Africa to the East Indies during the time that
Egypt was a province of the Roman empire. The +Erythræan Sea+
was an appellation given in those days to the whole expanse of ocean
reaching from the coast of Africa to the utmost boundary of ancient
knowledge on the East—an appellation in all appearance deduced from the
entrance into it by the Straits of the Red Sea, styled +Erythra+
by the Greeks, and not excluding the Gulf of Persia.
The author was a Greek merchant, who in the first century of the
Christian era had, it would appear, settled at +Berenîkê+, a great
seaport situated in the southern extremity of Egypt, whence he made
commercial voyages which carried him to the seaports of Eastern Africa
as far as +Azania+, and to those of Arabia as far as +Kanê+,
whence, by taking advantage of the south-west monsoon, he crossed over
to the ports lying on the western shores of India. Having made careful
observations and inquiries regarding the navigation and commerce of
these countries, he committed to writing, for the benefit of other
merchants, the knowledge which he had thus acquired. Much cannot be
said in praise of the style in which he writes. It is marked by a rude
simplicity, which shows that he was not a man of literary culture, but
in fact a mere man of business, who in composing restricts himself
to a narrow round of set phrases, and is indifferent alike to grace,
freedom, or variety of expression. It shows further that he was a
Greek settled in Egypt, and that he must have belonged to an isolated
community of his countrymen, whose speech had become corrupt by much
intercourse with foreigners. It presents a very striking contrast to
the rhetorical diction which +Agatharkhidês+, a great master of
all the tricks of speech, employs in his description of the Erythræan.
For all shortcomings, however, in the style of the work, there is
ample compensation in the fulness, variety, accuracy, and utility of
the information which it conveys. Such indeed is its superiority on
these points that it must be reckoned as a most precious treasure:
for to it we are indebted far more than to any other work for most of
our knowledge of the remote shores of Eastern Africa, and the marts
of India, and the condition of ancient commerce in these parts of the
world.
The name of the author is unknown. In the Heidelberg MS., which alone
has preserved the little work, and contains it after the _Periplûs_ of
Arrian, the title given is Αρῥιανου περιπλους της' Ερυθρας θαλασσης.
Trusting to the correctness of this title, Stuckius attributed the
work to +Arrian+ of Nikomedia, and Fabricius to another Arrian
who belonged to Alexandria. No one, however, who knows how ancient
books are usually treated can fail to see what the real fact here is,
viz. that since not only the _Periplûs Maris Erythræi_, but also the
_Anonymi Periplûs Ponti Euxini_ (whereof the latter part occurs in
the Heidelberg MS. before Arrian’s _Ponti Periplûs_) are attributed
to Arrian, and the different Arrians are not distinguished by any
indications afforded by the titles, there can be no doubt that the
well-known name of the Nikomedian writer was transferred to the books
placed in juxtaposition to his proper works, by the arbitrary judgment
of the librarians. In fact it very often happens that short works
written by different authors are all referred to one and the same
author, especially if they treat of the same subject and are published
conjointly in the same volume. But in the case of the work before us,
any one would have all the more readily ascribed it to Arrian who
had heard by report anything of the _Paraplûs_ of the Erythræan Sea
described in that author’s _Indika_. On this point there is the utmost
unanimity of opinion among writers.
That the author, whatever may have been his name, lived in Egypt, is
manifest. Thus he says in § 29: “Several of the trees _with us_ in
Egypt weep gum,” and he joins the names of the Egyptian months with the
Roman, as may be seen by referring to §§ 6, 39, 49, and 56. The place
in which he was settled was probably Berenîkê, since it was from that
port he embarked on his voyages to Africa and Arabia, and since he
speaks of the one coast as on the right from Berenîkê, and the other
on the left. The whole tenor of the work proclaims that he must have
been a merchant. That the entire work is not a mere compilation from
the narratives or journals of other merchants and navigators, but
that the author had himself visited some of the seats of trade which
he describes, is in itself probable, and is indicated in § 20, where,
contrary to the custom of the ancient writers, he speaks in his own
person:—“In sailing south, therefore, _we_ stand off from the shore and
keep _our_ course down the middle of the gulf.” Compare with this what
is said in § 48: προς την εμποριαν την ἑμετεραν.
As regards the age to which the writer belonged: it is first of all
evident that he wrote after the times of Augustus, since in § 23
mention is made of the Roman Emperors. That he was older, however,
than +Ptolemy+ the Geographer, is proved by his geography, which
knows nothing of India beyond the Ganges except the traditional
account current from the days of Eratosthenês to those of Pliny, while
it is evident that Ptolemy possessed much more accurate information
regarding these parts. It confirms this view that while our author
calls the island of Ceylon +Palaisimoundou+, Ptolemy calls it by
the name subsequently given to it—+Salikê+. Again, from § 19,
it is evident that he wrote before the kingdom of the Nubathæans was
abolished by the Romans. Moreover Pliny (VI. xxvi. 101), in proceeding
to describe the navigation to the marts of India by the direct route
across the ocean with the wind called Hippalos, writes to this
effect:—“And for a long time this was the mode of navigation, until a
merchant discovered a compendious route whereby India was brought so
near that to trade thither became very lucrative. For, every year a
fleet is despatched, carrying on board companies of archers, since the
Indian seas are much infested by pirates. Nor will a description of
the whole voyage from Egypt tire the reader, since now for the first
time correct information regarding it has been made public.” Compare
with this the statement of the _Periplûs_ in § 57, and it will be
apparent that while this route to India had only just come into use
in the time of Pliny, it had been for some time in use in the days of
our author. Now, as +Pliny+ died in 79 A.D., and had
completed his work two years previously, it may be inferred that he had
written the 6th book of his _Natural History_ before our author wrote
his work. A still more definite indication of his date is furnished
in § 5, where +Zoskalês+ is mentioned as reigning in his times
over the Auxumitae. Now in a list of the early kings of Abyssinia the
name of +Za-Hakale+ occurs, who must have reigned from 77 to 89
A.D. This +Za-Hakale+ is doubtless the +Zoskalês+
of the _Periplûs_, and was the contemporary of the emperors Vespasian,
Titus, and Domitian. We conclude, therefore, that the _Periplûs_
was written a little after the death of Pliny, between the years
A.D. 80-89.
Opinions on this point, however, have varied considerably. Salmasius
thought that Pliny and our author wrote at the same time, though
their accounts of the same things are often contradictory. In
support of this view he adduces the statement of the _Periplûs_
(§ 54), “+Muziris+, a place in India, is in the kingdom of
Kêprobotres,” when compared with the statement of Pliny (VI. xxvi.
104), “+Cœlobothras+ was reigning there when I committed
this to writing;” and argues that since +Kêprobotres+ and
+Cœlobothras+ are but different forms of the same name, the
two authors must have been contemporary. The inference is, however,
unwarrantable, since the name in question, like that of +Pandiôn+,
was a common appellation of the kings who ruled over that part of India.
Dodwell, again, was of opinion that the _Periplûs_ was written after
the year A.D. 161, when Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus were
joint emperors. He bases, in the first place, his defence of this
view on the statement in § 26: “Not long before our own times the
Emperor (Καῖσαρ) destroyed the place,” viz. +Eudaimón-Arabia+, now
Aden. This emperor he supposes must have been Trajan, who, according
to Eutropius (VIII. 3), reduced Arabia to the form of a province.
Eutropius, however, meant by Arabia only that small part of it which
adjoins Syria. This Dodwell not only denies, but also asserts that
the conquest of Trajan embraced the whole of the Peninsula—a sweeping
inference, which he bases on a single passage in the _Periplûs_ (§
16) where the south part of Arabia is called ἡ πρώτη Αραβία, “the
First Arabia.” From this expression he gathers that Trajan, after
his conquest of the country, had divided it into several provinces,
designated according to the order in which they were constituted. The
language of the _Periplûs_, however, forbids us to suppose that there
is here any reference to a Roman province. What the passage states is
that +Azania+ (in Africa) was by ancient right subject to the
kingdom τῆς πρώτης γινομένης (λεγομένης according to Dodwell) Ἀραβίας,
and was ruled by the despot of +Mapharitis+.
Dodwell next defends the date he has fixed on by the passage in § 23,
where it is said that +Kharibaël+ sought by frequent gifts and
embassies to gain the friendship of the emperors (τῶν αὐτοκρατόρων). He
thinks that the time is here indicated when M. Aurelius and L. Verus
were reigning conjointly, A.D. 161-181. There is no need,
however, to put this construction on the words, which may without any
impropriety be taken to mean ‘_the emperors for the time being_,’ viz.
Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian.
Vincent adopted the opinion of Salmasius regarding the date of the
work, but thinks that the Kaîsar mentioned in § 26 was Claudius. “The
Romans,” he says, “from the time they first entered Arabia under Ælius
Gallus, had always maintained a footing on the coast of the Red Sea.
They had a garrison at +Leukê Kômê+, in Nabathaea, where they
collected the customs; and it is apparent that they extended their
power down the gulf and to the ports of the ocean in the reign of
Claudius, as the freedman of +Annius Plocamus+ was in the act of
collecting the tributes there when he was carried out to sea and over
to +Taprobanê+. If we add to this the discovery of Hippalus in
the same reign, we find a better reason for the destruction of Aden at
this time than at any other.” The assertion in this extract that the
garrison and custom-house at +Leukê Kômê+ belonged to the Romans
is not warranted by the language of the _Periplûs_, which in fact shows
that they belonged to +Malikhos+ the king of the Nabathæans.
Again, it is a mere conjecture that the voyage which the freedman of
Plocamus (who, according to Pliny, farmed the revenues of the Red Sea)
was making along the coast of Arabia, when he was carried away by the
monsoon to Taprobanê, was a voyage undertaken to collect the revenues
due to the Roman treasury. With regard to the word Καῖσαρ, which has
occasioned so much perplexity, it is most probably a corrupt reading in
a text notorious for its corruptness. The proper reading may perhaps be
ΕΛΙΣΑΡ. At any rate, had one of the emperors in reality destroyed Aden,
it is unlikely that their historians would have failed to mention such
an important fact.
Schwanbeck, although he saw the weakness of the arguments with which
Salmasius and Vincent endeavoured to establish their position,
nevertheless thought that our author lived in the age of Pliny and
wrote a little before him, because those particulars regarding the
Indian navigation which Pliny says became known in his age agree, on
the whole, so well with the statement in the _Periplûs_ that they must
have been extracted therefrom. No doubt there are, he allows, some
discrepancies; but those, he thinks, may be ascribed to the haste or
negligence of the copyist. A careful examination, however, of parallel
passages in Pliny and the _Periplûs_ show this assertion to be
untenable. Vincent himself speaks with caution on this point:—“There
is,” he says, “no absolute proof that either copied from the other. But
those who are acquainted with Pliny’s methods of abbreviation would
much rather conclude, if one must be a copyist, that his title to this
office is the clearest.”
From these preliminary points we pass on to consider the contents
of the work, and these may be conveniently reviewed under the three
heads Geography, Navigation, Commerce. In the commentary, which is to
accompany the translation, the Geography will be examined in detail.
Meanwhile we shall enumerate the voyages which are distinguishable in
the _Periplûs_,[2] and the articles of commerce which it specifies.
I. VOYAGES MENTIONED IN THE PERIPLUS.
I. A voyage from _Berenîkê_, in the south of Egypt, down the western
coast of the Red Sea through the Straits, along the coast of Africa,
round Cape Guardafui, and then southward along the eastern coast of
Africa as far as Rhapta, a place about six degrees south of the equator.
II. We are informed of two distinct courses confined to the Red Sea:
one from Myos Hormos, in the south of Egypt, across the northern end of
the sea to Leukê Kômê, on the opposite coast of Arabia, near the mouth
of the Elanitic Gulf, whence it was continued to Mouza, an Arabian
port lying not far westward from the Straits; the other from Berenîkê
directly down the gulf to this same port
III. There is described next to this a voyage from the mouth of the
Straits along the southern coast of Arabia round the promontory now
called Ras-el-Had, whence it was continued along the eastern coast of
Arabia as far as Apologos (now Oboleh), an important emporium at the
head of the Persian Gulf, near the mouth of the river Euphrates.
IV. Then follows a passage from the Straits to India by three different
routes: the first by adhering to the coasts of Arabia, Karmania,
Gedrosia, and Indo-Skythia, which terminated at +Barugaza+
(Bharoch), a great emporium on the river +Nammadios+ (the
Narmadâ), at a distance of thirty miles from its mouth; the second from
+Kanê+, a port to the west of +Suagros+, a great projection
on the south coast of Arabia, now Cape Fartaque; and the third from
Cape Guardafui, on the African side—both across the ocean by the
monsoon to +Mouziris+ and +Nelkunda+, great commercial cities
on the coast of Malabar.
V. After this we must allow a similar voyage performed by the Indians
to Arabia, or by the Arabians to India, previous to the performance of
it by the Greeks, because the Greeks as late as the reign of Philomêtôr
met this commerce in Sabæa.
VI. We obtain an incidental knowledge of a voyage conducted from ports
on the east coast of Africa over to India by the monsoon long before
Hippalos introduced the knowledge of that wind to the Roman world.
This voyage was connected, no doubt, with the commerce of Arabia,
since the Arabians were the great traffickers of antiquity, and held
in subjection part of the sea-board of Eastern Africa. The Indian
commodities imported into Africa were rice, ghee, oil of sesamum,
sugar, cotton, muslins, and sashes. These commodities, the _Periplûs_
informs us, were brought sometimes in vessels destined expressly for
the coast of Africa, while at others they were only part of the cargo,
out of vessels which were proceeding to another port. Thus we have two
methods of conducting this commerce perfectly direct; and another by
touching on this coast with a final destination to Arabia. This is the
reason that the Greeks found cinnamon and the produce of India on this
coast, when they first ventured to pass the Straits in order to seek a
cheaper market than Sabæa.
II. ARTICLES OF COMMERCE MENTIONED IN THE PERIPLUS.
I. Animals:—
1. Παρθένοι εὐειδεῖς πρὸς παλλακίαν—Handsome girls for the haram,
imported into Barugaza for the king (49).[3]
2. Δούλικα κρείσσονα—Tall slaves, procured at Opônê, imported into
Egypt (14).
3. Σώματα θηλυκὰ—Female slaves, procured from Arabia and India,
imported into the island of Dioskoridês (31).
4. Σώματα—Slaves imported from Omana and Apologos into Barugaza (36),
and from Moundou and Malaô (8, 9).
5. Ἱπποι—Horses imported into Kanê for the king, and into Mouza for the
despot (23, 24).
6. Ἡμὶοναι νωτηγοὶ—Sumpter mules imported into Mouza for the despot
(24).
II. Animal Products:—
1. Βούτυρον—Butter, or the Indian preparation therefrom called _ghî_, a
product of Ariakê (41); exported from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets
beyond the Straits (14). The word, according to Pliny (xxviii. 9), is
of Skythian origin, though apparently connected with Βους, τυρος. The
reading is, however, suspected by Lassen, who would substitute Βοσμορον
or Βοσπορον, _a kind of grain_.
2. Δέρματα Σηρικὰ—Chinese hides or furs. Exported from Barbarikon, a
mart on the Indus (39). Vincent suspected the reading δερματα, but
groundlessly, for Pliny mentions the Sêres sending their iron along
with vestments and hides (_vestibus pellibusque_), and among the
presents sent to Yudhishṭhira by the Śâka, Tushâra and Kaṅka skins are
enumerated.—_Mahâbh._ ii. 50, quoted by Lassen.
3. Ἐλέφας—Ivory. Exported from Adouli (6), Aualitês (8), Ptolemaïs (3),
Mossulon (10), and the ports of Azania (16, 17). Also from Barugaza
(49), Mouziris and Nelkunda (56); a species of ivory called Βωσαρη is
produced in Desarênê (62).
4. Ἔριον Σηρικὸν—Chinese cotton. Imported from the country of the
Thînai through Baktria to Barugaza, and by the Ganges to Bengal, and
thence to Dimurikê (64). By Εριον Vincent seems to understand silk in
the raw state.
5. Κέρατα—Horns. Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and
Apologos (36). Müller suspects this reading, thinking it strange
that such an article as _horns_ should be mentioned between _wooden
beams_ and _logs_. He thinks, therefore, that Κέρατα is either used
in some technical sense, or that the reading Κορμῶν or Κορμίων should
be substituted—adding that Κορμοὺς ἐβένου, _planks of ebony_, are at
all events mentioned by Athênaios (p. 201_a_) where he is quoting
Kallixenos of Rhodes.
6. Κοράλλιον—Coral. (Sans. _pravâla_, Hindi _mûngâ_.) Imported into
Kanê (28), Barbarikon on the Indus (39), Barugaza (49), and Naoura,
Tundis, Mouziris, and Nelkunda (56).
7. Λάκκος χρωμάτινος—Coloured lac. Exported to Adouli from Ariakê
(6). The Sanskṛit word is _lâkshâ_, which is probably a later form
of _râkshâ_, connected, as Lassen thinks, with _râga_, from the root
_raṅj_, to dye. The vulgar form is _lâkkha_. Gum-lac is a substance
produced on the leaves and branches of certain trees by an insect, both
as a covering for its egg and food for its young. It yields a fine red
dye.[4] Salmasius thinks that by λάκκος χρωμάτινος must be understood
not lac itself, but vestments dyed therewith.
8. Μαργαρίτης—Pearl. (Sans. _mukta_, Hindi, _motí_.) Exported in
considerable quantity and of superior quality from Mouziris and
Nelkunda (56). Cf. πινικον.
9. Νημα Σῆρικόν—Silk thread. From the country of the Thînai: imported
into Barugaza and the marts of Dimurikê (64). Exported from Barugaza
(49), and also from Barbarikon on the Indus (39).” It is called μέταξα
by Procopius and all the later writers, as well as by the _Digest_, and
was known without either name to Pliny”—Vincent.
10. Πινίκιος κόγχος—the Pearl-oyster. (Sans. _śukti_.) Fished for at
the entrance to the Persian Gulf (35). Pearl πίνικον inferior to the
Indian sort exported in great quantity from the marts of Apologos and
Omana (36). A pearl fishery (Πινικοῦ κολύμβησις) in the neighbourhood
of Kolkhoi, in the kingdom of Pandiôn, near the island of Epiodôros;
the produce transported to Argalou, in the interior of the country,
where muslin robes with pearl inwoven (μαργαρίτιδες σινδόνες) were
fabricated (59). The reading of the MS. is σινδόνες, ἐβαργαρείτιδες
λεγόμεναι, for which Salmasius proposed to read μαργαριτιδες. Müller
suggests instead αἱ Ἀργαρίτιδες, as if the muslin bore the name of the
place _Argarou_ or _Argulou_, where it was made.
Pearl is also obtained in Taprobanê (61); is imported into the emporium
on the Ganges called Gangê (63).
11. Πορφύρα—Purple. Of a common as well as of a superior quality,
imported from Egypt into Mouza (24) and Kanê (28), and from the marts
of Apologos and Omana into Barugaza (36).
12. Ῥἱνόκερως—Rhinoceros (Sans. _khadgaḍ_)—the horn or the teeth,
and probably the skin. Exported from Adouli (16), and the marts of
Azania (7). Bruce found the hunting of the rhinoceros still a trade in
Abyssinia.
13. Χελώνη—Tortoise (Sans. _kachchhapa_) or tortoise-shell. Exported
from Adouli (6) and Aualitês (7); a small quantity of the genuine and
land tortoise, and a white sort with a small shell, exported from
Ptolemaïs (3); small shells (Χελωνάρια) exported from Mossulon (10); a
superior sort in great quantity from Opônê (13); the mountain tortoise
from the island of Menouthias (15); a kind next in quality to the
Indian from the marts of Azania (16, 17); the genuine, land, white,
and mountain sort with shells of extraordinary size from the island of
Dioskoridês (30, 31); a good quantity from the island of Serapis (33);
the best kind in all the Erythræan—that of the Golden Khersonêsos (63),
sent to Mouziris and Nelkunda, whence it is exported along with that of
the islands off the coast of Dimurikê (probably the Laccadive islands)
(56); tortoise is also procured in Taprobanê (61).
III.—Plants and their products:—
1. Αλόη—the aloe (Sans. _agaru_). Exported from Kanê (28). The sort
referred to is probably the bitter cathartic, not the aromatic sort
supposed by some to be the sandalwood. It grows abundantly in Sokotra,
and it was no doubt exported thence to Kanê. “It is remarkable,” says
Vincent, “that when the author of the _Periplûs_ arrives at Sokotra he
says nothing of the aloe, and mentions only Indian cinnabar as a gum
or resin distilling from a tree: but the confounding of cinnabar with
dragon’s-blood was a mistake of ancient date and a great absurdity”
(II. p. 689).
2. Ἀρώματα—aromatics (ευωδια, θυμιαματα.) Exported from Aualitês (7),
Mossulon (10). Among the spices of Tabai (12) are enumerated ἀσύβη καί
ἄρωμα καί μάγλα, and similarly among the commodities of Opônê
κασσία καὶ ἄρωμα καὶ μότω; and in these passages perhaps a particular
kind of aromatic (cinnamon?) may by preëminence be called ἄρωμα. The
occurrence, however, in two instances of such a familiar word as ἄρωμα
between two outlandish words is suspicious, and this has led Müller
to conjecture that the proper reading may be ἀρηβὼ, which Salmasius,
citing Galen, notes to be a kind of cassia.
3. Ασύβη—Asuphê, a kind of cassia. Exported from Tabai (12). “This
term,” says Vincent, “if not Oriental, is from the Greek ἀσύφηλος,
signifying _cheap_ or _ordinary_; but we do not find ἀσύφη used in this
manner by other authors: it may be an Alexandrian corruption of the
language, or it may be the abbreviation of a merchant in his invoice.”
(_Asafœtida_, Sans. _hingu_ or _bâhlika_, Mar. _hing_.)
4. Βδελλα, (common form Βδελλιον). Bdella, Bdellium, produced on the
sea-coast of Gedrosia (37); exported from Barbarikon on the Indus
(39); brought from the interior of India to Barugaza (48) for foreign
export (49). Bdella is the gum of the _Balsamodendron Mukul_, a tree
growing in Sind, Kâṭhiâvâḍ, and the Dîsâ district.[5] It is used both
as an incense and as a cordial medicine. The bdellium of Scripture is a
crystal, and has nothing in common with the bdellium of the _Periplûs_
but its transparency. Conf. Dioskorid. i. 80; Plin. xii. 9; Galen,
_Therapeut. ad Glauc._ II. p. 106; Lassen, _Ind. Alt._ vol. I. p. 290;
Vincent, vol. II. p. 690; Yule’s _Marco Polo_, vol. II. p. 387. The
etymology of the word is uncertain. Lassen suspects it to be Indian.
5. Γίζειρ—Gizeir, a kind of cassia exported from Tabai (12). This sort
is noticed and described by Dioskoridês.
6. Δόκος—Beams of wood. Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana
and Apologos (36). (? Blackwood.)
7. Δούακα—Douaka, a kind of cassia. Exported from Malaô and Moundou (8,
9). It was probably that inferior species which in Dioskorid. i. 12, is
called δακαρ or δακαρ or δαρκα.
8. Ἐβένιναι φάλαγγες—Logs of ebony (_Diospyros melanoxylon_.) Exported
from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and Apologos (36).
9. Ελαιον—Oil (_tila_). Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6); ἔλαιον
σησαμινον, oil of sêsamê, a product of Ariakê (41). Exported from
Barugaza to the Barbarine markets (14), and to Moskha in Arabia (32).[6]
10. Ἰνδικόν μέλαν—Indigo. (Sans. _nîlî_, Guj. _gulî_.) Exported from
Skythic Barbarikon (39). It appears pretty certain that the culture of
the indigo plant and the preparation of the drug have been practised
in India from a very remote epoch. It has been questioned, indeed,
whether the Indicum mentioned by Pliny (xxxv. 6) was indigo, but, as it
would seem, without any good reason. He states that it was brought from
India, and that when diluted it produced an admirable mixture of blue
and purple colours. _Vide_ McCulloch’s _Commer. Dict._ s. v. _Indigo_.
Cf. Salmas, in _Exerc._ Plin. p. 181. The dye was introduced into Rome
only a little before Pliny’s time.
11. Κάγκαμον—Kankamon. Exported from Malaô and Moundou (8, 10).
According to Dioskoridês i. 23, it is the exudation of a wood, like
myrrh, and used for fumigation. Cf. Plin. xii. 44. According to
Scaliger it was gum-lac used as a dye. It is the “dekamalli” gum of the
bazars.
12. Κάρπασος—Karpasus (Sans. _kârpâsa'_; Heb. karpas,) _Gossypium
arboreum_, fine muslin—a product of Ariakê (41). “How this word found
its way into Italy, and became the Latin _carbasus_, fine linen, is
surprising, when it is not found in the Greek language. The Καρπασιον
λινον of Pausanias (_in Atticis_), of which the wick was formed for
the lamp of Pallas, is asbestos, so called from Karpasos, a city
of Crete—Salmas. Plin. _Exercit._ p. 178. Conf. Q. Curtius viii.
9:—‘Carbaso Indi corpora usque ad pedes velant, corumque rex lecticâ
margaritis circumpendentibus recumbit distinctis auro et purpurâ
carbasis quâ indutus est.’” Vincent II. 699.
13. Κασσία or Κασία (Sans. _kuta_, Heb. _kiddah_ and _keziah_).
Exported from Tabai (12); a coarse kind exported from Malaô and Moundou
(8, 9); a vast quantity exported from Mossulon and Opônê (10, 13).
“This spice,” says Vincent, “is mentioned frequently in the
_Periplûs_, and with various additions, intended to specify the
different sorts, properties, or appearances of the commodity. It is a
species of cinnamon, and manifestly the same as what we call cinnamon
at this day; but different from that of the Greeks and Romans, which
was not a bark, nor rolled up into pipes, like ours. Theirs was the
tender shoot of the same plant, and of much higher value.” “If our
cinnamon,” he adds, “is the ancient casia, our casia again is an
inferior sort of cinnamon.” Pliny (xii. 19) states that the cassia is
of a larger size than the cinnamon, and has a thin rind rather than a
bark, and that its value consists in being hollowed out. Dioskoridês
mentions cassia as a product of Arabia, but this is a mistake, Arabian
cassia having been an import from India. Herodotos (iii.) had made the
same mistake, saying that cassia grew in Arabia, but that cinnamon
was brought thither by birds from the country where Bacchus was born
(India). The cassia shrub is a sort of laurel. There are ten kinds of
cassia specified in the _Periplûs_.[7] Cf. Lassen, _Ind. Alt._ I. 279,
283; Salmas. Plin. _Exercit._ p. 1304; Galen, _de Antidotis_, bk. i.
14. Κιννάβαρι Ἰνδικòν—Dragon’s-blood, _damu’l akhawein_ of the Arabs,
a gum distilled from _Pterocarpus Draco_, a leguminous tree[8] in the
island of Dioskoridês or Sokotra (30). Cinnabar, with which this was
confounded, is the red sulphuret of mercury. Pliny (lib. xxix. c. 8)
distinguishes it as ‘Indian cinnabar.’ Dragon’s-blood is one of the
concrete balsams, the produce of _Calamus Draco_, a species of rattan
palm of the Eastern Archipelago, [of _Pterocarpus Draco_, allied to the
Indian Kino tree or _Pt. marsupium_ of South India, and of _Dracæna
Draco_, a liliaceous tree of Madeira and the Canary Islands].
15. Κόστος (Sansk. _kushṭa_, Mar. _choka_, Guj. _kaṭha_ and _pushkara
mûla_,)—Kostus. Exported from Barbarikon, a mart on the Indus (39), and
from Barugaza, which procured it from Kâbul through Proklaïs, &c. This
was considered the best of aromatic roots, as nard or spikenard was the
best of aromatic plants. Pliny (xii. 25) describes this root as hot to
the taste and of consummate fragrance, noting that it was found at the
head of Patalênê, where the Indus bifurcates to form the Delta, and
that it was of two sorts, black and white, black being of an inferior
quality. Lassen states that two kinds are found in India—one in Multân,
and the other in Kâbul and Kâśmîr. “The Costus of the ancients is
still exported from Western India, as well as from Calcutta to China,
under the name of _Putchok_, to be burnt as an incense in Chinese
temples. Its identity has been ascertained in our own days by Drs.
Royle and Falconer as the root of a plant which they called _Aucklandia
Costus_.... Alexander Hamilton, at the beginning of last century, calls
it _ligna dulcis_ (sic), and speaks of it as an export from Sind, as
did the author of the _Periplûs_ 1600 years earlier.” Yule’s _Marco
Polo_, vol. II. p. 388.
16. Κρόκος—Crocus, Saffron. (Sans. _kaśmîraja_, Guj. _kesir_, Pers.
_zafrân_.) Exported from Egypt to Mouza (24) and to Kanê (28).
17. Κύπερος—Cyprus. Exported from Egypt to Mouza (24). It is an
aromatic rush used in medicine (Pliny xxi. 18). Herodotos (iv. 71)
describes it as an aromatic plant used by the Skythians for embalming.
Κύπερος is probably Ionic for Κύπειρος—Κύπειρος ἰνδικὸς of Dioskoridês,
and _Cypria herba indica_ of Pliny.—Perhaps Turmeric, _Curcuma longa_,
or Galingal possibly.
18. Λέντια, (Lat. _lintea_)—Linen. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (6).
19. Λίβανος (Heb. _lebonah_, Arab. _luban_, Sans.
_śrîvâsa_)—Frankincense. Peratic or Libyan frankincense exported from
the Barbarine markets—Tabai (12), Mossulon (10), Malaô and Moundou, in
small quantities (8, 9); produced in great abundance and of the best
quality at Akannai (11); Arabian frankincense exported from Kanê (28).
A magazine for frankincense on the Sakhalitic Gulf near Cape Suagros
(30). Moskha, the port whence it was shipped for Kanê and India (32)
and Indo-Skythia (39).
Regarding this important product Yule thus writes:—“The coast of
Hadhramaut is the true and ancient Χώρα λιβανοφόρος or λιβανωτοφόρος,
indicated or described under those names by Theophrastus, Ptolemy,
Pliny, Pseudo-Arrian, and other classical writers, _i.e._ the country
producing the fragrant gum-resin called by the Hebrews _Lebonah_,
by the Arabs _Luban_ and _Kundur_, by the Greeks _Libanos_, by the
Romans _Thus_, in mediæval Latin _Olibanum_ (probably the Arabic
_al-luban_, but popularly interpreted as _oleum Libani_), and in
English frankincense, _i.e_, I apprehend, ‘genuine incense’ or ‘incense
proper.’[9] It is still produced in this region and exported from it,
but the larger part of that which enters the markets of the world is
exported from the roadsteads of the opposite Sumâlî coast. Frankincense
when it first exudes is milky white; whence the name _white incense_ by
which Polo speaks of it, and the Arabic name _luban_ apparently refers
to milk. The elder Niebuhr, who travelled in Arabia, depreciated the
Libanos of Arabia, representing it as greatly inferior to that brought
from India, called Benzoin. He adds that the plant which produces it is
not native, but originally from Abyssinia.”—_Marco Polo_, vol. II. p.
443, &c.
20. Λύκιον—Lycium. Exported from Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39), and
from Barugaza (49). Lycium is a thorny plant, so called from being
found in Lykia principally. Its juice was used for dying yellow, and a
liquor drawn from it was used as a medicine (Celsus v. 26, 30, and vi.
7). It was held in great esteem by the ancients. Pliny (xxiv. 77) says
that a superior kind of Lycium produced in India was made from a thorn
called also _Pyxacanthus_ (box-thorn) _Chironia_. It is known in India
as _Ruzot_, an extract of the _Berberis lycium_ and _B. aristata_, both
grown on the Himâlayas. Conf. the λύκιον ἰνδικὸν of Dioskor. i. 133. (?
Gamboge.)
21. Μάγλα—Magla—a kind of cassia mentioned only in the _Periplûs_.
Exported from Tabai (12).
22. Μάκειρ—Macer. Exported from Malaô and Moundou (8, 9). According
to Pliny, Dioskoridês, and others, it is an Indian bark—perhaps a
kind of cassia. The bark is red and the root large. The bark was used
as a medicine in dysenteries. Pliny xii. 8; Salmasius, 1302. (? The
_Karachâlâ_ of the bâzârs, _Kutajatvak_).
23. Μάλαβαθρον (Sans. _tamâlapattra_, the leaf of the _Laurus Cassia_),
Malabathrum, Betel. Obtained by the Thînai from the Sesatai and
exported to India[10] (65); conveyed down the Ganges to Gangê near
its mouth (63); conveyed from the interior of India to Mouziris and
Nelkunda for export (56). That Malabathrum was not only a masticatory,
but also an unguent or perfume, may be inferred from Horace (_Odes_,
II. vii. 89):—
...“coronatus nitentes
Malabathro Syrio capillos”,
and from Pliny (xii. 59): “Dat et Malabathrum Syria, arborum folio
convoluto, arido colore, ex quo exprimitur oleum ad unguenta:
fertiliore ejusdem Egypto: laudatius tamen ex India venit.” From
Ptolemy (VII. ii. 16) we learn that the best Malabathrum was produced
in Kirrhadia—that is, Rangpur. Dioskoridês speaks of it as a
masticatory, and was aware of the confusion caused by mistaking the
nard for the betel.
21. Μέλι τὸ καλάμινον, τὸ λεγομενον σάκχαρ (Sans. _śarkarâ_, Prâkṛit
_sâkara_, Arab. _sukkar_, Latin _saccharum_)—Honey from canes, called
Sugar. Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Barbaria (14). The
first Western writer who mentions this article was Theophrastos, who
continued the labours of Aristotle in natural history. He called it a
sort of honey extracted from reeds. Strabo states, on the authority of
Nearkhos, that reeds in India yield honey without bees. Ælian (_Hist.
Anim._) speaks of a kind of honey pressed from reeds which grow among
the Prasii. Seneca (Epist. 84) speaks of sugar as a kind of honey
found in India on the leaves of reeds, which had either been dropped
on them from the sky as dew, or had exuded from the reeds themselves.
This was a prevalent error in ancient times, _e.g._ Dioskoridês says
that sugar is a sort of concreted honey found upon canes in India and
Arabia Felix, and Pliny that it is collected from canes like a gum. He
describes it as white and brittle between the teeth, of the size of a
hazel-nut at most, and used in medicine only. So also Lucan, alluding
to the Indians near the Ganges, says that they quaff sweet juices from
tender reeds. Sugar, however, as is well known, must be extracted by
art from the plant. It has been conjectured that the sugar described by
Pliny and Dioskoridês was sugar candy obtained from China.
25. Μελίλωτον—Melilot, Honey-lotus. Exported from Egypt to Barugaza
(49). Melilot is the Egyptian or Nymphæa Lotus, or Lily of the Nile,
the stalk of which contained a sweet nutritive substance which was made
into bread. So Vincent; but Melilot is a kind of clover, so called
from the quantity of honey it contains. The nymphæa lotus, or what
was called the Lily of the Nile, is not a true lotus, and contains no
edible substance.
26. Μοκρότον. Exported from Moundou (9) and Mossulon (10). It is a sort
of incense, mentioned only in the _Periplûs_.
27. Μότω—Motô—a sort of cassia exported from Tabai and Opônê (13).
28. Μύρον—Myrrh. (Sans. _bola_.) Exported from Egypt to Barugaza as a
present for the king (49). It is a gum or resin issuing from a thorn
found in Arabia Felix, Abyssinia, &c., _vide_ σμύρνη _inf._
29. Νάρδος (Sans. _nalada_, ‘kaskas,’ Heb. _nerd_) Nard, Spikenard.[11]
Gangetic spikenard brought down the Ganges to Gangê, near its mouth
(63), and forwarded thence to Mouziris and Nelkunda (56). Spikenard
produced in the regions of the Upper Indus and in Indo-Skythia
forwarded through Ozênê to Barugaza (48). Imported by the Egyptians
from Barugaza and Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (49, 39).
The _Nardos_ is a plant called (from its root being shaped like an
ear of corn) νάρδου στάχυς, also ναρδόσταχυς, Latin _Spica nardi_,
whence ‘spikenard.’ It belongs to the species _Valeriana_. “No Oriental
aromatic,” says Vincent, “has caused greater disputes among the
critics or writers on natural history, and it is only within these
few years that we have arrived at the true knowledge of this curious
odour by means of the inquiries of Sir W. Jones and Dr. Roxburgh.
Pliny describes the nard with its _spica_, mentioning also that both
the leaves and the _spica_ are of high value, and that the odour is
the prime in all unguents; the price 100 denarii for a pound. But
he afterwards visibly confounds it with the Malabathrum or Betel,
as will appear from his usage of _Hadrosphærum_, _Mesosphærum_, and
_Microsphærum_, terms peculiar to the Betel”—II. 743-4. See Sir W.
Jones on the spikenard of the ancients in As. Res. vol. II. pp. 416
_et seq._, and Roxburgh’s additional remarks on the spikenard of the
ancients, vol. IV. pp. 97 _et seq._, and botanical observations on the
spikenard, pp. 433. See also Lassen, _Ind. Alt._ vol. I. pp. 288 _et
seq._
30. Ναύπλιος—Nauplius. Exported in small quantity from the marts of
Azania (17). The signification of the word is obscure, and the reading
suspected. For ΝαΥΠλιος Müller suggests ΝαΡΓΙλιος, the Indian cocoanut,
which the Arabians call _Nargil_ (Sansk. _nârikêla_ or _nâlikêra_, Guj.
_nâliyêr_, Hindi _nâliyar_). It favours this suggestion that cocoanut
oil is a product of Zangibar, and that in four different passages of
Kosmas Indikopleustês nuts are called αργελλια, which is either a
corrupt reading for ναργελλια, or Kosmas may not have known the name
accurately enough.
31. Ὀθόνιον—Muslin. Sêric muslin sent from the Thînai to Barugaza and
Dimurikê (64). Coarse cottons produced in great quantity in Ariakê,
carried down from Ozênê to Barugaza (48); large supplies sent thither
from Tagara also (51); Indian muslins exported from the markets of
Dimurikê to Egypt (56). Muslins of every description, Seric and dyed of
a mallow colour, exported from Barugaza to Egypt (49); Indian muslin
taken to the island of Dioskoridês (31); wide Indian muslins called
μοναχὴ, _monâkhê_, i. e. of the best and finest sort; and another
sort called σαγματογήνη, _sagmatogênê_, i. e. coarse cotton unfit
for spinning, and used for stuffing beds, cushions, &c., exported
from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets (14), and to Arabia, whence
it was exported to Adouli (6). The meanings given to _monâkhê_ and
_sagmatogênê_ (for which other readings have been suggested) are
conjectural. Vincent defends the meaning assigned to _sagmatogênê_ by a
quotation from a passage in Strabo citing Nearkhos:—“Fine muslins are
made of cotton, but the Makedonians use cotton for flocks, and stuffing
of couches.”
32. Ὀῖνος—Wine. Laodikean and Italian wine exported in small quantity
to Adouli (6); to Aualitês (7), Malaê (8), Mouza (24), Kanê (28),
Barbarikon in Indo-Skythia (39); the same sorts, together with Arabian
wine, to Barugaza (49); sent in small quantity to Mouziris and Nelkunda
(56); the region inland from Oraia bears the vine (37), which is found
also in the district of Mouza (24), whence wine is exported to the
marts of Azania, not for sale, but to gain the good will of the natives
(17). Wine is exported also from the marts of Apologos and Omana to
Barugaza (36). By Arabian wine may perhaps be meant palm or toddy wine,
a great article of commerce.
33. Ὄμφακος Διοσπολιτικῆς χυλός—the juice of the sour grape of
Diospolis. Exported from Egypt to Aualitês (7). This, says Vincent,
was the dipse of the Orientals, and still used as a relish all over
the East. _Dipse_ is the rob of grapes in their unripe state, and a
pleasant acid.—II. 751. This juice is called by Dioskoridês (iv. 7) in
one word Ομφάκιον, and also (v. 12) Ὀῖνος Ὀμφακίτης. Cf. Plin. xii. 27.
34. Ὄρυζα (Sansk. _vrîhi_)—Rice. Produced in Oraia and Ariakê (37, 41),
exported from Barugaza to the Barbarine markets (14), and to the island
of Dioskoridês (31).
35. Πέπερι (Sansk. _pippalî_,) long pepper—Pepper. Kottonarik pepper
exported in large quantities from Mouziris and Nelkunda (56); long
pepper from Barugaza (49). _Kottonara_ was the name of the district,
and _Kottonarikon_ the name of the pepper for which the district was
famous. Dr. Buchanan identifies Kottonara with Kadattanâḍu, a district
in the Calicut country celebrated for its pepper. Dr. Burnell, however,
identifies it with Kolatta-Nâḍu, the district about Tellicherry, which,
he says, is the pepper district.
36. Πυρὸς—Wheat. Exported in small quantity from Egypt to Kanê (28),
some grown in the district around Mouza (24).
37. Σάκχαρι—Sugar: see under Μελι.
38. Σανδαράκη—Sandarakê (_chandrasa_ of the bazars); a resin from the
_Thuja articulata_ or _Callitris quadrivalvis_, a small coniferous
tree of North Africa; it is of a faint aromatic smell and is used as
incense. Exported from Egypt to Barugaza (49); conveyed to Mouziris and
Nelkunda (56).[12]
Sandarakê also is a red pigment—red sulphuret of arsenic, as orpiment
is the yellow sulphuret. Cf. Plin. xxxv. 22, Hard. “Juba informs
us that sandarace and ochre are found in an island of the Red Sea,
Topazas, whence they are brought to us.”
39. Σαντάλινα and σασάμινα ξύλα—Logs of Sandal and Sasame (_santalum
album_). Exported from Barugaza to the marts of Omana and Apologos
(30). Σαντάλινα is a correction of the MS. reading σαγάλινα proposed
by Salmasius. Kosmas Indikopleustes calls sandalwood τζαδάνα. For
σασαμινα of the MS. Stuckius proposed σησάμινα—a futile, emendation,
since sesame is known only as a leguminous plant from which an oil
is expressed, and not as a tree. But possibly Red Saunders wood
(_Pterocarpus Santalinus_) may be meant.
40. Σησάμινον ἔλαιον. See Ελαιον.
41. Σινδόνες διαφορώταται αἱ Γαγγητικᾶι. The finest Bengal muslins
exported from the Ganges (63); other muslins in Taprobanê (61);
Μαργαριτιδες (?), made at Argalou and thence exported (59); muslins of
all sorts and mallow-tinted (μολοχιναι) sent from Ozênê to Barugaza
(48), exported thence to Arabia for the supply of the market at Adouli
(6).
42. Σῖτος—Corn. Exported from Egypt to Adouli (7), Malaô (8); a little
to Mouza (24), and to Kanê (28), and to Muziris and Nelkunda for ships’
stores (56); exported from Dimurikê and Ariakê into the Barbarine
markets (14), into Moskha (32) and the island of Dioskoridês (31);
exported also from Mouza to the ports of Azania for presents (17).
43. Σμύρνη—Myrrh (vide μυρον). Exported from Malaô, Moundou, Mossulon
(8, 9, 10); from Aualitês a small quantity of the best quality (7); a
choice sort that trickles in drops, called _Abeirminaia_ ἐκλεκτὴ καὶ
στακτὴ ἁβειρμιναία), exported from Mouza (24). For Ἁβειρμιναία of the
MS. Müller suggests to read γαβειρμιναία, inclining to think that two
kinds of myrrh are indicated, the names of which have been erroneously
combined into one, viz. the Gabiræan and Minæan, which are mentioned by
Dioskoridês, Hippokratês, and Galen. There is a _Wadi Gabir_ in Oman.
44. Στύραξ—Storax (Sans. _turuska_, _selarasa_ of the bazars),—one of
the balsams. Exported from Egypt to Kanê (28), Barbarikon on the Indus
(39), Barugaza (40). Storax is the produce of the tree _Liquidambar
orientale_, which grows in the south of Europe and the Levant.[13]
The purest kind is storax in grains. Another kind is called _styrax
calamita_, from being brought in masses wrapped up in the leaves of a
certain reed. Another kind, that sold in shops, is semi-fluid.
45. Φοῖνιξ—the Palm or Dates. Exported from the marts of Apologos and
Omana to Barugaza (36, 37).
IV.—Metals and Metallic Articles:—
1. Ἀργυρᾶ σκεύη, ἀργυρώματα—Vessels of silver. Exported from Egypt to
Mossulon (10), to Barbarikon on the Indus (39). Silver plate chased
or polished (τορνευτα or τετορνευμενα) sent as presents to the despot
of Mouza (24), to Kanê for the king (28). Costly (βαρυτιμα) plate
to Barugaza for the king (49). Plate made according to the Egyptian
fashion to Adouli for the king (6).
2. Ἀρσενικὸν—Arsenic (_somal_). Exported from Egypt to Mouziris and
Nelkunda (56).
3. Δηνάριον—Denary. Exported in small quantity from Egypt to Adouli
(6). Gold and silver denarii sent in small quantity to the marts of
Barbaria (8, 13); exchanges with advantage for native money at Barugaza
(49).
The _denary_ was a Roman coin equal to about 8½_d._, and a little
inferior in value to the Greek drachma.
4. Κάλτις—Kaltis. A gold coin (νομισμα) current in the district of
the Lower Ganges (63); Benfey thinks the word is connected with the
Sanskrit _kalita_, i.e. _numeratum_.
5. Κασσίτερος (Sans. _baṅga_, _kathila_)—Tin. Exported from Egypt
to Aualitês (7), Malaô (8), Kanê (28), Barugaza (49), Mouziris and
Nelkunda (56). India produced this metal, but not in those parts to
which the Egyptian trade carried it.
6. Μόλυβδος—Lead (Sansk. _nâga_, Guj. _sîsuṅ_). Exported from Egypt to
Barugaza, Muziris, and Nelkunda (49, 56).